Ira Panganiban Open Letter Blasting BIR Sec. Kim Henares

Former ABS-CBN correspondent Ira Panganiban wrote an Open
Letter to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Kim Henares posted
through his official Facebook account.

Panganiban also questioned why BIR isn’t looking at Lucio
Tan who has been on the BIR’s radar as a perennial taz evader for the last
20-years with cases going in and out of court.

An open letter to Bureau of Internal Revenue Kim Henares spread
like wildfire after it heavily criticized the secretary for “arbitrary choice
in the personalities she chooses to prosecute.”

Read his full open letter below:

"Dear Kim Henares,

I do not doubt your sincerity to collect taxes from every
Filipino, living or dead.

I do not even doubt your integrity in making sure that you
are able to collect the proper taxes from everyone.

I am however questioning your motives and arbitrary choice
in the personalities you choose to prosecute.

I am going to cite one particular person who has been on the
BIR’s radar as a perennial tax evader for the last 20-years with cases going in
and out of court.

His name is Lucio Tan and he owes the country more than
5-billion pesos in tax liabilities decided on numerous times by the Supreme
Court as executory and final and yet no garnishment order was ever made until
his petition reaches the SC, who would then reverse their decisions time and
again.

Lucio Tan was never known for his philanthropy or good
business practices. He authored the contractualization of PAL and Asia Brewery
employees which was not only detrimental to Filipino Labor but also to taxes
that could be collected from these workers had they been regular employees.

Lucio Tan is also accused of ill-gotten wealth from his
Marcos days, and yet he continues to enjoy his money.

Congressman Manny Pacquiao’s case is not even at the High
Court and his earnings have already been garnished.

You have been given certified true copies of Pacman’s tax
payments in the US and yet you refuse to recognize this and insist on originals
which I believe, but I may be mistaken, even ?US citizens have no access to.

And to think that Pacquiao earned his money through honest,
literally blood, sweat and tears. And he is one of about ten persons who insist
in keeping his money in the Philippines because he is a patriot.

He could have stashed it somewhere you cannot reach if he
had things to hide, but he kept it here, so our economy can make use of it.

You cannot even freeze the money of politicians involved in
the PDAF scam but you can do this to an ordinary man who managed to rise above
all of you through hard work, guts, integrity and the work of his own hands.

And that is why your integrity is rapidly being eroded,
because you don’t seem to think anymore. You just grab the first victim that
cannot fight you.

Because even if Pacquiao is a Congressman, he is not
connected to the old boys club and so does not have the clout of the Tan’s,
Sy’s, Dy’s and others.

Oh, and Lucio Tan did give over 100 million to Noynoy’s
election kitty while Pacquiao was with the opposition.